Single feed for multiple carding machines



Oct. 17, 1944. H. B. RlEHL 2,360,583

SINGLE FEED FOR MULTIPLE CARDING MACHINES Filed Oct. 16, 1942 5Sheets-Sheet 1 i ,r :i

H. B. RIEHL 2,360,583

SINGLE FEED FOR MULTIPLE CARDING MACHINES Filed Oct. 16, 1942 aSheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 17, 1944, I

. J g E. r QN QN W N o m& hm. QM. QM. ww m g d IAWMWM. W h WQ Oct. 17,1944.

H. B. RIEHL SINGLE FEED FOR MULTIPLE CARDING MACHINES Filed Oct. 16,1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IZD Z Patented Oct. 17, 1944 SINGLE FEED FORMULTIPLE. CARDIN G MACHINES Harmon B. Riehl, Newton Highlands, Mass, as-

signor to Proctor & Schwartz, Incorporated, Philadelphia, Pa., acorporation of Pennsyl- Vania Application October 16, 1942, Serial No.462,312

11 Claims;

This invention relates to apparatus for automatically feeding a batteryof Garnett, carding or other fibrous stock working machines, whichheretofore have been individually fed, manually.

The outstanding effects of the present invention are the saving of manpower, the production of cleaner and more uniform webs from the Garnettor carding machines, a reduction in the loss of moisture from the stock,and. otherswhichwill be apparent from the following specification takenwith the accompanying drawings, of which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation ofthe primary feeding.- apparatus and aportion of the secondary feeding apparatus, constructed and operated inaccordance with the present invention, including the first fibre workingunit of a battery thereof;

Fig. 2- is a diagrammatic side elevation of the secondary feedingapparatus cooperating with the battery of fibre working units;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional elevation. taken on the line 33, Fig.1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional elevation taken on the line 4--4, Fig.1;

Fig; 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating'one of the electric controldevices provided at each of the fibre working units of the battery; and

Fig. 6 is an electrical diagram showing the intercooperation of theelements ofv the secondary feeding apparatus and the various units. ofthe battery of fibre working machines.

As shown in Fig. 2, a battery of carding or Garnett machines, commonlycalled carding engines, of any desired number are installed in laterallyspaced parallel relation to each other, with the receiving hoppers ofthe automatic weighing feeders of the individual machines lined up in asingle row.

In the present instance, there aretwelve card-- ing or Garnett machinesin the battery, indicated at A to L respectively (Fig. 2). Eachmachineis provided With an automatic weighing feeder of the type shownin the present assignees prior United States Patent No. 1,660,249 datedFebruary 21, 1928, modified in accordance with the assignees laterUnited States Patent No. 2,261,049 dated October 28, 1941.

Each of the Weighing feeders includes a receiving hopper, from whichfibrous stock is auto matically withdrawn and automatically fed, inuniform weighed batches, to the licker-in rollsof the garnett or cardingmachine.

Heretofore the receiving hoppers of the autom'atic feeders have beenreplenished manually, by a crew of men, for example, one man forinclusive.

each three or four machines. Such manual feeding has been unsatisfactoryfor a number of reasons.

In order to gain leisure time, the attendants have been inclined tooverload the hoppers and to cram the hoppers so full that the bulk of'stock in each hopper is unevenl distributed against the ascending faceof the spike apron'of the feeder which withdraws the fibres from thereceiving hoppers thereof. This condition causes variations in the webas it forms on the swift or cylinder of the carding engine, andconsequently results in variations in the carded slivers leaving themachines.

Another disadvantage attendin manual feeding is the opposite extremal.e. the attendants will frequently overlook the fact that thestock in ahopper is rapidly becoming depleted and in need of replenishing. Thiscauses thin starved spots to be formed in the fleece or web on thecarding cylinder. Then, when the inadequacy is discovered, the attendantwill cram the hopper full to excess. This causes thick spots in the web.Consequently the ensuing sliver is thick in some spots and thin inothers. Furthermore, undue packing of the stock in the feeder receivinghoppers does not permit of the loose dirt and fines falling out of thestock through the foraminous floor and/or back of the hopper, thus theweb and ensuing sliver contain undesirable quantities of foreign matterwhich must be subsequently removed therefrom.

According to'the present invention, the receiving hoppers Illa to I01 ofthe automatic feeders attending the carding engines A to L inclusive arefed by a series of longitudinally aligned con- Veyers a to Z. inclusive,arranged with the adjacent ends of successive conveyers in overlappingrelation, for respectively delivering stock in a loose fiuffy conditionto the hoppers lila to IIJZ Each hopper is provided with'automatic meanswhereby the bulk of stock therein is maintained Within predeterminedlimits, thus the stock is distributed uniformly across the faces of theascending runs of the spike aprons and the density of the stock ismaintained uniform, thus the web and the sliver coming from each cardingengine is of uniform texture.

Furthermore, the fiuffing of the stock in the hoppers frees the fibres.of a high percentage of foreign matter, which results in cleaner websand inclusive, and the composite conveyer, made up of the severalindividual conveyers or sections a to l, is fed by a cross conveyer zfrom a master feeder Z.

The master feeder Z is fed from a master hopper or bin X forming onecompartment of a service bin X, which also includes a second compartmentX through an intermediate delivery house or bin-head Y.

The bin compartments X and X of the service bin X are each adapted tohold a sufiicient quantity of stock to serve the whole battery ofcarding engines for one full working period, 1. e. for a full days runor a full nights run.

The compartments X and X of the service bin X are each provided with amovable floor, in the form of endless belt conveyers m and respectively,whereby the stock assembled in compartment X may be bodily transferredto compartment X when empty, and whereby the stock from compartment Xmay be steadily delivered to the bin-head Y.

The bin-head Y is provided with an inclined conveyer y which is adaptedto deliver stock onto the movable floor conveyer 2 of the master feederZ.

The master feeder Z is provided with a spike apron 2 which raises thestock and delivers it to the cross conveyer z for delivery to the firstend section a of the composite conveyer a-Z aforesaid.

The master feeder Z is preferably provided with compensating means inaccordance with the disclosure of the assignees copending applicationSerial No. 427,668 filed in the names of William F, Bokum and John W.Weber under date of January 21, 1942, which insures uniformity of thestock delivered to the series of conveyers a to Z inclusive by the crossconveyer z.

The conveyer sections 2) to Z are respectively driven by reversibleelectric motors, or their equivalents b to Z respectively. The forwardmotions of the motors b to Z are controlled by relay switches whichinclude operating coils 20 to II respectively, while the reverse motionsof these motors are controlled by relay switches including operatingcoils 2d to Ild respectively.

The conveyer a will never be required to reverse, hence the motor awhich drives this conveyer may be of the mono-directional type, thereasons for which will become obvious as the description of theapparatus as a whole progresses.

Current to the relay switch coils 20 to I 20 (Fig. 6) for affordingforward motion of the motors b to Z is furnished through switches 21 toI21 respectively of a main circuit M, and current to the coils 2d to IZdfor reversing the motors b to Z is furnished through switches 21 to I2rof said circuit.

Current to one side of the relay switch coil Ic for controlling the flowof current to the motor a which drives the first conveyer section aassociated with the carding engine A,.and current to one side of therelay switch coils I30 and Me which respectively control the flow ofcurrent to a motor 2 for the master feeder Z and 1 for the bin-head Yand service bin X, is supplied by a conductor t Current to the oppositeside of each of the above noted relay switch coils is supplied by aconductor t from one side of the secondary winding I of a transformer T,or equivalent source.

The conductor t forms one side of a complementary parallel stop circuit.S including stop switches Is to I2s inclusive, one for each of thecarding engines A to L inclusive. The second side of the complementarycircuit S is formed by a conductor t connected to the second side of thesecondary winding T of the transformer T. The circuit S is controllableby a manual switch 5 and by each of the automatic stop switches Is toI2s inclusive.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, there is one of the stop switches Is to I Isof the complementary circuit S, one of the forward switches 21 to I2 andone of the reverse switches 2r to I21, controlled by each of theweighing feeder hoppers Illa to Illk of the units A to K inclusive, andone of the stop switches I25 solely controlled by the hopper IUZ of thefeeder associated with the unit L.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the forward switch and the reverse switch ineach hopper are so connected mechanically that when the one is closedthe other is open and vice versa. When the forward switch of a hopper isclosed, the stop switch for the hopper is open in the case of thehoppers Illa to I 070 inclusive, and in the case of the hopper IOZ, thestop switch I23 is open when the hopper is full and closed when thestock in that hopper requires replenishing.

As shown in Fig. 4, each hopper Illa to I01 is provided with anarticulated movable back I5, comprising a lower part Iiia pivoted at I6to the frame of the hopper, and an upper part I51) pivoted at I! to saidframe. with the upper edge of the lower part and the lower edge of theupper part flexibly connected by an intermediate part I50 of said back.

The movable back I5 of each hopper is counterbalanced to move the lowerpart I5a toward the ascending face I8a of the spike apron I8, by aWeight I9, or'its equivalent to press the stock in the hopper firmlyagainst the spike apron. As the bulk of stock in the hopper diminishesthe lower part I5a of the movable back I5 moves in the directionindicated by the arrow in Fig. 4, and as the bulk is replenished theback I 5a moves in the opposite direction.

The top part I512, being connected to the lower part I5a receives acorresponding oscillating motion as the hopper empties and fills, andvice versa.

. Idle oscillatory motion of the movable back I5 is permitted withinprescribed limits at the opposite ends of which the forward and reverseand stop switches are operated in accordance with conditions existing inthe hopper.

As shown in Fig. 5, a forward switch 2] to I2 as the case may be, anassociated reverse switch 2r to I21 as the case may be, and a stopswitch I s to Us as the case may be, are simultaneously controlled bythe movable back of each hopper Illa to I91, as the case may be, by arod 26 pivoted at one end to the movable back I5, at 2|, with itsopposite end slidably mounted in a bracket 22 on the frame of thehopper.

The rod 20 is provided with spaced collars 23, 23 between which and theopposite sides of a lever 24 are springs 25, 25. The lever 24 is pivotedat 26 to the frame of the hopper and is connected at one end, by links21 and 21a, to a pair of switch levers 28 and 29 of a switch box 30, inwhich said forward, reverse and stop switches are housed. The oppositeend of the lever 24 is operable between stops 31, 31.

The forward and reverse and stop switches may be of the mercury tubetype if desired, but preferably the forward and reverse are included ina double pole toggle switch. The stop switch is preferably of the singlepole toggle type.

As shown in Fig. 5,v the lever 28 is pivoted on a rod 32 on which isalso pivoted a dielectric lever 33 carrying electrically connectedcontacts 34, 34 which, in one position of the lever 33 connect theterminals 35, 35 of the forward switch and in another position connectthe terminals 36, 36 of the reverse switch, a spring biased toggle link31 having one end pivoted to the contact lever 33 and its opposite endslidable in a lug on the operating lever 28, serving to hold the contactlever 33 resiliently in either of its circuit closing positions to whichthis lever might be moved.

The stop switch is of similar construction except that the electricallyconnected contacts 34a, 34a on the dielectric lever 33a, make contactwith but one set of terminals 38, 38 of the stop switch,

at the same time as the contacts 34, 34, on the dielectric lever 33 arein engagement with the terminals 36, 36 of the associated reverseswitch.

As shown in Fig. 6, current is supplied to the conductor t and 1& fromthe opposite sides of the secondary winding T of the transformer T, andfrom the conductor t to the conductor t of the stop circuit S, througheach of the stop switches Is to I23 inclusive.

The conductor t forming one side of the stop circuit S is connected toone side of the main circuit M through a single conductor m One side ofthe forward switch 2 f and one side of the reverse switch 21" areconnected by a single conductor m to which is also connected theconductor m from the stop circuit S. The second sides of the switches 2fand 2r are connected to the second sides of the relay switch coils 2cand 2d respectively by conductors 2e and 2g.

The switches Is, 2r and 2 are controlled by the movable back I5 in thehopper I00. associated with the first carding engine A. The switches 2s,3r and 3 are controlled by the movable back I5 in the hopper IIlbassociated with the second carding engine B and so on to the hopper IIlkassociated with the carding engine K, the movable back I5 of whichcontrols the switches IIs, I27 and I2 The movable back I5 of the hopperIIlZ associated with the last carding engine L of the battery thereof,controls only the stop switch I2s.

One side of the switches 3r and 3 are connected by a conductor m to theconductor 2e behind the switch 2f, i. e. to the second side of saidforward switch, so that if the switch 2 is opened no current can flow toany of the switches beyond the open forward switch. The other switches4r-4f, 5r5f, Br-Gf and so on are similarly connected together and to thesecond side of the preceding forward switch by conductors m m m and soon down to the switches I2rl2f which are connected to the second side ofthe forward switch I I f by a conductor m In operation, assuming thatthe battery of carding engines are being started up for the first time,with all hoppers Illa to Ifil empty, the movable backs I5 of thesehoppers have closed the reverse switches 2r to I21" inclusive and thestop switches Is to I2s inclusive, and opened the forward switches 2 fto I2 I inclusive.

The manual switch s is then closed. This starts the motors y, e and aStock is then advanced from the compartment X of the service bin Xthrough the bin head Y to the master feeder Z, and from the masterfeeder Z to the cross conveyer z.

I The conveyer z delivers the stock to the first conveyer a of theplurality a tol inclusive, which collectively form a single path for:the stock which; is common to the entrances of all of the hoppers Miaand Hit. The conveyers a. to l are adapted, collectively to advance thestock in steady progression past the entrances of the hoppers Illa. toI01, as formed by the open tops of these hoppers.

As a result of the hopper IIla. of the carding unit A being empty, themovable back I5 thereof has closed the switch Zr and opened the switch 2therein which controls the action of the conveyer b, thus the conveyer bis caused to move in reverse, so that, as the'stock is delivered to thereceiving end of the conveyer b, from conveyer a, the forward motion ofa and the reverse movement of b, combined, diverts the stock from theaforesaid single path and drops it into the hopper IOa of the cardingunit A.

It'will be observed from Fig. 6, that when the reverse switch 27* isclosed the stop switch Is, in the hopper IIla, is also closed, and theforward switch 2f is open. The opening of switch 2 cuts off the fiow ofcurrent to the relay coils 3c, 3d to I20, I2d so that all the conveyersc, d, e etc. following the reversed conveyer b, in this instance, arestopped.

When the hopper lily, of the carding unit A has received a predeterminedquantity of stock, the movable back I5 of the hopper Illa, operates toopen the switches Zr and Is and close the switch 2 which causes theconveyer b to travel in a forward direction to deliver stock to thehopper Iflb of the carding unit B.

The same procedure as hereinbefore described with respect to the fillingof the hopper Illa, now' follows until the hopper Iflb is filled, and soon throughout the whole of the battery A to L inclusive.

When the hopper I370 of the carding unit K is filled, the conveyer Zdelivers stock directly into the hopper I31 of the carding unit L. Aspreviously noted the movable back I5 of the hopper Ifll controls but oneswitch, i. e. the switch I2s in the stop circuit S. 1

As will be clear from the foregoing'description, when the movable "backsI5 of each of the hoppers Illa to I 3k respectively were operated by therespective hoppers becoming filled, which in turn opened the reverseswitches and the stop switches controlled thereby and closed the forwardswitches for the conveyers a to is inclusive, all the stop switches Isto Ms were thereby opened, leaving only the switch I2s, controlled bythe movable back I5 of the hopper I31 associated with the carding unitL, closed to feed current solely from the one side 15 of the stopcircuit S to the opposite side 1' thereof and thence to the one side ofthe main circuit M, and through the interconnected conductors m to minclusive to the forward switch I2 in the hopper Hit of the carding unitK.

Thus, the fibres are fed from conveyer a to b to c and so on to Z, andby the conveyer 1 into the hopper I31 of the carding unit L. When thishopper is filled, the movable back I5 thereof operates to open theswitch IZs, thus completely opening the stop circuit S and shutting offall current from the main circuit M, the motors a to Z and the motors 2and 1/ whereby the feed ing of stock from the compartment X of the.

service bin X is completely stopped and all stock lying on the conveyersa to 1, z, 2 y and .22 remains quiescent.

Now, should the stock in any one of the hoppers Illa to I01 become.deplated to the predetermined extent necessary to cause the movableback I5 thereof to actuate the switches controlled thereby, the wholeconveyer system up to the hopper requiring replenishing would beimmediately actuated by the operation of these particular switches,while all the sections of the conveyer system beyond the hopperrequiring re-' plenishing would remain inactive.

For example, if the hopper Hlg associated with the carding unit G shouldrequire replenishing, the movable back of that hopper will close thestop switch is, thereby providing current across the stop circuit S tothe main circuit M to start the motors 2 11 0), b 0 01 e f and g andwill close the reverse switch 81 and open the switch 8], whereby themotor h will be operated in reverse. Thus the conveyers X Y, Z 2 z, a,

b, c, d, e, ,f, and y will move forwardly to transport stock from thecompartment X of the service bin X to the conveyer h, and the reversingof the conveyer it will drop the stock into the hopper I 0g of thecarding unit G.

The conveyer x in the compartment X of the service bin X may at any timeduring operation of the motor 11/ be coupled thereto by a clutch 40 toload the compartment X from the compartments X when desired, or aseparate manually controlled motor for operating the conveyer :0 may beprovided, if desired. Furthermore the clutch 40 may be constantlyoperative to cause simultaneous actuation of the conveyers r and 0: ifdesired.

Stock is fed from dryers, willows, pickers or other preliminary treatingapparatus to the service bin X, or to either of the compartments X and Xthereof separately, through the usual form of air duct blower system W,W including the usual form of condenser V, V.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for feeding material to a series of receptacleentrances, comprising a series of conveyer units collectively adapted toadvance material along a path common to said entrances, and meansassociated with each receptacle and operable by variations in the volumeof material therein for interrupting the material advancing movements ofthe conveyer units succeeding each of said entrances upon reduction ofsaid Volume to a predetermined limit in the receptacle fed thereby.

2. An apparatus for feeding material to a series of receptacleentrances, comprising a series of conveyer units collectively adapted toadvance material along a path common to said entrances, means associatedwith each receptacle and operable by variations in the volume ofmaterial therein for interrupting the material advancing movements ofthe conveyer units succeeding each of said entrances upon reduction ofsaid volume to a predetermined limit in the receptacle fed thereby, andmeans operable by said associated means for effecting reversal of theconveyer unit next succeeding each receptacle entrance concurrently withsaid interruption for diverting said material into said entrance.

3. An apparatus for feeding material to a series of receptacleentrances, comprising a series of receptacles, a series of conveyerunits respectively terminating adjacent the entrances of saidreceptacles, and adapted normally to progressively advance materialalong a path common to said entrances, volume determining means in eachreceptacle, and means operable by said determining means forinterrupting the material advancing movements of the conveyer unitsfollowing each receptacle entrance when the volume of material thereinreaches a predetermined minimum.

4. An apparatus for feeding material to a series of receptacleentrances, Comprising a series of receptacles, a series of conveyerunits respectively terminating adjacent the entrances of saidreceptacles and adapted normally to progressively advance material alonga path common to said entrances, volume determining means in eachreceptacle, means operable by said determining means for interruptingthe material advancing movements of the conveyer units folowing eachreceptacle entrance when the volume of material therein reaches apredetermined minimum, and means operable by said determining means forreversing the first conveyer unit following each receptacle entranceconcurrently with said interruption for diverting material from saidpath into the affected receptacle.

5. An apparatus for feeding material to a series of receptacleentrances, comprising a series of receptacles, a series of conveyerunits respectively terminating adjacent the entrances of saidreceptacles and adapted normally to progressively advance material alonga path common to said entrances, volume determining means in eachreceptacle, means operable by said determining means for interruptingthe material advancing movements of the conveyer units following eachreceptacle entrance when the volume of material therein reaches apredetermined minimum, and means controlled by the determining means ofall of said receptacles collectively for interrupting the materialadvancing movements of all the conveyer units of the series when thedetermining means of all the receptacles indicate maximum volume ofmaterial in said series of receptacles.

6. A material feeding apparatus comprising a row of open-topreceptacles, a longitudinally aligned series of conveyer units above andparallel to said row with adjacent ends of successive units overlyingsaid open tops respectively, means for driving said units concurrentlyin a forward direction to advance material progressively from one end ofsaid row to the opposite end thereof and including reversible drivingmean for each unit following the open top of the receptacle at the firstend of said row, drive control means in each receptacle for effectingforward or reverse movement of the unit immediately following eachreceptacle under the influence of predetermined maximum and minimumvolumes respectively of the material contained therein, and meansoperable by the control means in each receptacle for stopping all theunits following a unit operating in reverse.

7. A material feeding apparatus comprising a row of open-topreceptacles, a longitudinally aligned series of conveyer units above andparallel to said row with adjacent ends of successive units overlyingsaid open tops respectively, means for driving said units concurrentlyin a forward direction to advance material progressively from one end ofsaid row to the opposite end thereof and including reversible drivingmeans for each unit following the open top of the receptacle at thefirst end of said row, drive control means in each receptacle foreffecting forward or reverse movement of the unit immediately followingeach receptacle under the influence of predetermined maximum and minimumvolumes respectively of the material contained therein, and meansoperable by the control means in each receptacle and collectivelythroughout all the receptacle of the row for stopping all of said unitswhen the control means of all of the receptacles indicate maximumvolumes of material therein.

8. A material feeding apparatus comprising a row of open-topreceptacles, a longitudinally aligned series of conveyer unit above andparallel to said row with adjacent ends of successive units overlyingsaid open tops respectively, means for driving said units concurrentlyin a forward direction to advance materialprogressivelyfrom one end ofsaid row to the opposite end thereof and including reversible drivingmeans for each unit following the open top of the receptacle at thefirst end of said row, drive control means in each receptacle foreffecting forward or reverse movement of the unit immediately followingeach receptacle under the influence of predetermined maximum and minimumvolumes respectively of the material contained therein, means operableby the control means in each receptacle for stopping all the unitsfollowing a unit operating in reverse, and means operable by the controlmeans in each receptacle and collectively throughout all the receptaclesof the row for stopping all of said units when the control means of allof the receptacles indicate maximum volumes of material therein.

9. A material feeding apparatus comprising a supply bin, a row ofreceptacles, a conveyer system for transporting material from said binto said receptacles including a series of independent conveyer unitsrespectively adapted to advance said material progressively along saidrow, material measuring means in each receptacle, and means responsiveto predetermined actuations of the measuring means in any one of saidreceptacles for stopping the conveyer units and interrupting saidprogression therebeyond and for diverting the material thereinto.

10. A material feeding apparatus comprising a supply bin, a row ofreceptacles, a. conveyer system for transporting material from said binto said receptacles including a series of independent conveyer unitsrespectively adapted to advance said material progressively along saidrow, material measuring means in each receptacle, means responsive topredetermined actuations of the measuring means in any one of saidreceptacles for stoppin the conveyer units and interrupting saidprogression therebeyond and for diverting the material thereinto, andmeans also responsive to predetermined actuations of the measuring meansof all said receptacles collectively for interrupting the materialtransporting movements of the conveyer system as a whole.

11. A maten'al feeding apparatus comprising a supply fbin, a row ofreceptacles, a conveyer system for transporting material from said binto said receptacles including movable flooring in said bin, a series ofindependent conveyer units respectively adapted to receive material fromsaid movable flooring and advance said material progressively along saidrow, material measuring means in each receptacle, means responsive topredetermined actuations of the measuring means in any one of saidreceptacles for stopping the conveyer units and interrupting saidprogression therebeyond and for diverting the material thereinto, andmean also responsive to predetermined actuations of the measuring meansof all said receptacles collectively for interrupting the materialtransporting movements of the conveyer system as a whole.

HARMON B. RIE-HL.

